It's a myth. A childhood fantasy that it's time I give up on for more adult realities. It's a nice thought, but it's just an opiate. A white lie to convince me to behave myself all year so that I get rewarded in the end. I'll still pretend for the kids come the holidays, but in my heart of hearts, I know it will be a falsehood.

Half-Life 2 just won Game of the Decade on the VGAs and they didn't show or mention Half-Life 3. Not that Valve would normally cater to the VGAs, but when they were all there in attendance (15 members on stage, including Gabe Newell) and the topic of Half-Life 2 comes up and they don't even MENTION the sequel...

I can't do this anymore Valve... I just... can't...

I used to laugh at everyone else when they came to this realization, but it's finally hit home; Valve has broken my brain. They would have mentioned it, or implied that we should "look forward to more". They would have said something. They would have teased it if they had something. THEY WOULD HAVE TEASED IT IF THEY HAD SOMETHING!

This is good though... I should thank them... finally... I can finally move on with my life. I can get a job, friends, family... without the hope of a new Half-Life ever possible in the future... I'm finally free. A free...man...

THE ONE FREE MAN

I AM HALF-LIFE 3!!!!

It all makes so much sense now... HhahahaahHAHAHA

@Wrighteous86: I'm almost right there with you at this point...

Don't you have yourself to blame? They've never announced a Half Life 3 so why are you expecting it and why are your expectations so high for something that has never existed?

They seemed so unenthusiastic when they accepted that award.

Game of the deca... like, 2003-2012? 
Why are they...?

@TooWalrus said:

Game of the deca... like, 2003-2012? Why are they...?

Ten years of VGAs... It makes as much sense as a lot of that show.

People are seriously still waiting for an announcement?

Yeah, I dunno. Half Life 2 was nice and all that but Half Life 3 missed its window for me.

@mosespippy: Well, they were at least working on EPISODE 3, which goes to reason a follow-up in some form existed at some time. There was also leaked concept art from one of Valve's artist's Picasa pages. But yes, I accept my blame. I kept holding out hope in my heart of hearts, while, all the while, reality was bearing down on me. I'm weak. :(

And they fucking teased us with Portal and Portal 2. DAMN YOU VALVE! WHY DO YOU MOCK OUR PAIN?!

You know, they never announced HL3.

People just assume it will happen. They just never bothered officially cancelling Episode 3 and people assumed it just transformed into HL3.

Half life 3, will only be created to push Valve's new engine, and their still cranking stuff out in Source.

@Pr1mus said:

You know, they never announced HL3.

People just assume it will happen. They just never bothered officially cancelling Episode 3 and people assumed it just transformed into HL3.

Most of the time when a franchise is well-regarded and successful and has a planned continuation and ends on a cliffhanger, it stands to reason that it's creator plans to eventually continue that story. It's not like it was an artistic choice to end on a cliffhanger. They clearly still had more story to tell. The people acting like a sequel was never really planned are the crazy ones, in my opinion.

It was never going to get announced at the VGAs. Keep hope alive.

They should never announce HL3 and then randomly drop it on Steam when it's done. Everyone would go nutsssss.

@Wrighteous86: Sure, i assume the game will happen myself. They just don't owe anyone anything regarding a game that was never announced.

@jonnyboy said:

Half life 3, will only be created to push Valve's new engine, and their still cranking stuff out in Source.

This. It's the only answer that makes any sense and even then, if they choose not go through with it it's fine too.

Maybe they just don't care anymore about it and would rather do something else. I think it's great to have a developer that doesn't cave in and pump one sequel after another and instead do whatever the fuck they want and take as long as they have to to make it glorious. Like Portal 2.

How fucking dramatic.

"Gamers, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, gamers, there is a Half Life 3. It exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Half Life 3. It would be as dreary as if there were no gamers. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished."

I had the stream on mute when the G-Man showed up on screen. I was like huh maybe they're announcing Half-life 3 or Episode 3. I didn't really care one way or the other, but was surprised that it was happening then I saw the game of the decade logo which made more sense.

Kinda wondering if Gabe wasn't allowed to speak because he isn't exactly tv presentable. I mean he is the co-founder of the company that made the game. I suppose it's not a huge deal, but that may be why they weren't exactly enthusiastic to be up there. Or it could be that the award means absolutely nothing to them.

I'm sure there are some like me who cares nothing for the HL franchise, but enjoyed anything put out by Valve since HL2. I'd rather see them put their creativity and innovation in something else.

@Wrighteous86: Don't you see? Half-Life was this elaborate dissertation to get nerds excited about a rich, fictional world with an interesting story, and at a certain point, pull the plug after a cliffhanger and never speak of it again!

One of these days it's going to be released, and it will be great.

If Valve were awesome they would let someone write and in depth book about it's development.

@Barrock said:

One of these days it's going to be released, and it will be great.

If Valve were awesome they would let someone write and in depth book about it's development.

Oh, sweet innocent Barrock. Bless your little heart. I was once like you. Naive to the ways of the world. Ever hopeful for that next great adventure. But the grim realities of our society have hardened me. There is a dark cynicism festering in my soul that was once filled with memories of Barney, and headcrabs, and crowbars. But now, I am a void. A blistering wound where once stood a man. Some day you will see. But I will not be the one to show you. Hold out hope. Grip on to it tightly, as if your life depended on it... for in many ways, it does. Others will mock you and laugh at you and tell you you're wrong. They're jealous, they want what you have, what they used to have. Inevitably you too will fall, like I did before you... but drink from the sweet nectar for as long as you can... every last drop is heaven on Earth. The memories of that flavor will simultaneously haunt you and keep you going in the dark days.

So, wake up, Barrock. Wake up and smell the ashes.

I'm ecstatic that HL2 won Game of the Decade, even if it really means nothing. But this event seems like the last place that Valve would choose to announce HL3. Still, it would've been fucking amazing and I probably would've had a heart attack from the excitement.

I've always laughed at people who believed.

@FluxWaveZ said:

I've always laughed at people who believed.

I still do.

No Half Life 3

No God

Half-Life 3 will come out when they finish Source Engine 2. Simple as that. Play some other games while you wait, lots of good ones.

DAMNIT VALVE, WHAT THE FUCK WAS ELI GONNA TELL ME

@Turtlebird95 said:

They seemed so unenthusiastic when they accepted that award.

It's the VGAs. They're Valve.

Do that math and tell me why you're surprised they seemed unenthusiastic.

Half-Life 3 would need to live up to so many expectations, both real and imagined, that there's no way in hell it could possibly live up to its name.

@TheHT said:

DAMNIT VALVE, WHAT THE FUCK WAS ELI GONNA TELL ME

He was going to tell us what Bill Murray said to Scarlett Johansson at the end of Lost in Translation.

@Kerned said:

@Turtlebird95 said:

They seemed so unenthusiastic when they accepted that award.

It's the VGAs. They're Valve.

Do that math and tell me why you're surprised they seemed unenthusiastic.

Yeah, but bringing up 17 members of Valve, including Gabe, to go up there and say nothing, and joylessly take the award and not announce anything... Why were they there, why did they all go on stage? THEY BROKE MY HEART!

@PeasantAbuse said:

They should never announce HL3 and then randomly drop it on Steam when it's done. Everyone would go nutsssss.

That would be insannnnneee. The day that happened, is the the day Valve won the gaming industry.

@Wrighteous86: DAMNIT BILL MURRAY WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T YOU STAY, YOU WERE CLEARLY HAPPIER THERE WITH HER

@Wrighteous86 said:

@Kerned said:

@Turtlebird95 said:

They seemed so unenthusiastic when they accepted that award.

It's the VGAs. They're Valve.

Do that math and tell me why you're surprised they seemed unenthusiastic.

Yeah, but bringing up 17 members of Valve, including Gabe, to go up there and say nothing, and joylessly take the award and not announce anything... Why were they there, why did they all go on stage? THEY BROKE MY HEART!

To paraphrase someone from the Idle Thumbs forum, "What sort of a speech do you give when you receive an award from an institution you don't respect?"

@Wrighteous86: Right there with you. I'm spent. I don't even pay attention to any new rumors or 'leaks' that come out. I wont believe it until there's on official announcement.

SCREW YOU GABE I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU HURT ME ANYMORE!

@berniesbc said:

@Wrighteous86 said:

@Kerned said:

@Turtlebird95 said:

They seemed so unenthusiastic when they accepted that award.

It's the VGAs. They're Valve.

Do that math and tell me why you're surprised they seemed unenthusiastic.

Yeah, but bringing up 17 members of Valve, including Gabe, to go up there and say nothing, and joylessly take the award and not announce anything... Why were they there, why did they all go on stage? THEY BROKE MY HEART!

To paraphrase someone from the Idle Thumbs forum, "What sort of a speech do you give when you receive an award from an institution you don't respect?"

That's the perfect way to put it.

Valve said "Ricochet 2" is in the pipeline awhile ago.

Let's wait for Source Engine 2.

If two years after that there's still no mention of this game, then fall into despair if you so desire.

Turns out that Valve released "Half Life 3" under the title "Half Time" and it got pushed under the rug because everyone thought it was a football management game where you hired bands to play during the halftime show.

If Half-Life 3 is actually being made (and I don't know if that's a likely thing to think at this point), then it will be announced as a launch title for next-gen systems. Therefore, don't expect a peep before E3.

valve's been making big moves- linux, big picture, futzing with hardware behind the scenes, source 2...whenever they need a groundswell of support and a platform-seller- that's when we'll see hl3.

I believe that the entire lack of Half-Life 3 is a combination of tech and current market atmosphere. Source is not sufficient for a modern cross platform game where they've extended it multiple times but it is missing fundamental features that are glaring compared to other engines. While Valve is clearly working on "Source 2" that does have an impact on anything being currently worked on which includes Half-Life 3. As for the "market atmosphere", it seems that a lot of gamers are not turning away from the "Campaign FPS game" they don't pull the weight they used too where it is now dubious to spend so much money and time on a single player campaign for a FPS that draws "meh" from the audience. Could a new Half-Life 3 blow everyone out of the water or feature something extraordinary? It can but then again does any producer, even as mighty as Valve is, feel it is necessary to do that? At this point it would make more sense to push DOTA 2 and create a Team Fortress 3 on "Source 2" than it does a Half-Life 3.

I can't give it up.

Is the top still spinning!?!?!?! Tell me Eli, damn you!

@Wrighteous86 said:

@TheHT said:

DAMNIT VALVE, WHAT THE FUCK WAS ELI GONNA TELL ME

He was going to tell us what Bill Murray said to Scarlett Johansson at the end of Lost in Translation.

Heretic!!! Burn in hell!!!

Half-Life 3 is coming. Valve must be loving this meme about its release because when they do announce it, it's going to be nuts.

There's no way it's not going to come out someday.

I have a theory they have been pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into this game, it's turned into a passion project it will be a polished 200 hour game that it 120 GB's in size and is shipped on a SSD drive.

There will be another Half-Life game, there is absolutely no doubt about it (in my mind). And to me personally the name doesn't matter... Episode 3, Half-Life 3, The Half-Life... whatever.

I would believe this if Valve wasn't quiet for the last couple years. There's no way all they have been working on is DOTA 2 and some TF2 updates, they have Episode 3, they will release Episode 3 unannounced on the Steam homepage, and there will be riots on the street. The Mayan Calendar was right about December 21st, 2012, not because it's the end of the world, but it's the end of the world as we know it, a world that calls Episode 3 a reality.